For most of us, the kitchen is like a short-order diner-open 24 hours a day to a demanding clientele. The head cook has to slap the food on the table in record time, cater to everyone’s special needs and make it healthy.
Impossible? Not if you have a plan, Mike Bowers says.
Bowers, a psychologist, has devised a system to turn that short-order diner into the Happy Days Malt Shoppe, where the cook even enjoys cooking for the clientele.
Most of us have a mental cookbook of 10 dishes we can whip up. Bowers divides cooking into two categories: the everyday cooking in which we repeat the 10 dishes, and gourmet cooking.
“Anyone who likes to cook has 150 cookbooks filled with recipes, but in everyday cooking, we pick the same dishes over and over out of boredom, habit, we’re tired, we don’t want to cook. Women, in particular, often have four to six hours of work ahead of them after dinner.”
In Bowers’ plan, the cook makes up a matrix-seven ingredients on one side, seven dishes on the other, for a total of 49 possibilities. Bowers’ own main ingredients are: ground meat; chicken/turkey; beef/pork; beans/tofu, vegetables/cheese; and seafood.
His seven types of dishes are tortilla/pizza, sandwich, salad, omelette/frittata/country pie (low-fat quiche), stir-fry/pasta, soup/stew, and casserole.
If Bowers has leftover roast pork, he might put it on a tortilla with chutney and low-fat cheese or he might prepare a water chestnut salad with bottled Thai peanut dressing, or a stir-fry with twice-cooked pork.
He keeps the list handy on the back of a cabinet door, and by filling in the matrix squares with possibilities, he increases his repertoire. He can vary the possibilities according to what he has on hand.
The original 10 recipes already in his repertoire are listed as “blue-plate specials.”
Part of the success of his system depends on knowing a few basics, such as an Asian sauce. Packaged and bottled sauces are fine, too.
“The sauces are critical,” he says. For those who have qualms about using packaged ones, “as long as they’re not high in fat and reasonably nutritious, get over it.”
Packaged sauces do not preclude knowing how to make sauces from scratch. “If you have the stuff on hand, you can go either way.”
Bowers, who specializes in health management and weight control, based his system on something he learned from talking to his chronic dieters. “Chronic dieters are told to find recipes and shop for them, and that gets boring. They’re told they should be planning a menu a week ahead and organizing their list ahead of time.
“Most of us don’t have any hope of doing that and since we’re not doing what we should be doing, we do nothing. That’s part of the all-or-nothing thinking pattern of diet mentality.”
By contrast, he found that those who love to cook work without recipes, picking up main ingredients at home and devising recipes based on what’s in the cupboard.
To get you out of the everyday cooking rut, Bowers has two suggestions:
– Change your mindset. “It shouldn’t be in an all-or-nothing deal where you either cook a gourmet meal or eat a frozen pizza.”
– Relax. “Get rid of the idea that you’re going to get organized, do menus ahead, make lists. Choose main ingredients and build around them. This is where people panic. When you get home, you pick one of the categories in the matrix, you combine it with what you have on hand. People say, `But I don’t have a recipe; what would you put in there?’ Try a little broth and some seasonings. You can think it through if you don’t get nervous.”
To get you started, here are some of Bowers’ favorites.
SAUSAGE LENTIL RAGOUT WITH WINTER VEGETABLES
Preparation time: 35 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Adapted from Cooking Light magazine.
1 pound turkey Italian sausage, sliced in half lengthwise, cut into 1/2-inch slices, or use bulk turkey sausage
2 medium leeks, thinly sliced (white part only), or chopped yellow onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound dried lentils
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2 cans (13 3/4 ounces each) chicken broth
1 cup water
6 carrots, sliced 1/2-inch thick, or other winter vegetables, such as chunks of squash
1 pound mushrooms, sliced, optional
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, or 1 teaspoon dried
1 teaspoon fresh marjoram leaves, or 1/2 teaspoon dried
1 teaspoon sugar, optional
1 teaspoon hot sauce, optional
1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
Chopped fresh cilantro for garnish
1. Heat 4- to 6-quart dutch oven over medium-high heat until hot, add sausage, cook and stir for 3 minutes. Add leeks and garlic, cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add lentils, broth and water, heat to boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, partly cook carrots or other vegetables by microwaving or parboiling. Stir into lentil mixture along with remaining ingredients; heat to boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Serve garnished with cilantro.
STIR-FRIED SPICED PORK LOIN
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
4 cups shredded red cabbage
1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar, or cider vinegar plus 1 tablespoon sugar
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup couscous
2 tablespoons salad oil
1 pound boneless pork loin or shoulder, fat trimmed, cut in 1/2- by 3-inch strips
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
Sauce:
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup orange juice
4 teaspoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint or cilantro for garnish
1. Mix cabbage with vinegar; set aside. Heat broth to a boil in a 1 1/2- to 2-quart pan. Stir in the couscous, cover pan tightly, remove from heat and let stand until couscous is tender to bite and most of the liquid is absorbed, about 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, place a wok or 10- to 12-inch frying pan over high heat. When pan is hot, add 2 teaspoons oil and half the pork; stir-fry until pork is lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Remove from pan; add 2 teaspoons oil and remaining pork to pan and repeat stir-frying step. Add to cooked meat.
3. Add 2 more teaspoons oil to pan; add onion, ginger and garlic; stir-fry 2 minutes; remove from heat. Mix all sauce ingredients in a small bowl; add to pan with pork. Stir over high heat until sauce boils, about 2 minutes.
4. Place cabbage in a layer on a large platter, or divide among 4 dinner plates. Mound hot couscous on cabbage. Spoon pork and sauce over couscous. Sprinkle with mint.
HAM YAM SOUP
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Yield: 4 to 5 servings
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 green bell peppers, seeded, chopped
8 ounces turkey ham, cut in 1/2-inch dice
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1 can (14 1/2 ounces) low-sodium chicken broth
2 medium potatoes, peeled, quartered
2 large yams or sweet potatoes, cut in 1/2-inch dice
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated skim milk
1 tablespoon dried dill
1 tablespoon Mrs. Dash seasoning
1 teaspoon black pepper
1. Heat oil in large heavy soup pot over medium-high heat and cook onions and peppers 3 minutes. Add turkey ham; cook 2 minutes more. Add broth. When it begins to boil, add potatoes and yams. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are cooked through, about 20 minutes.
2. Remove potato quarters from soup and place in blender with milk. Blend until smooth. Add potato-milk mixture and spices to soup. Heat through.
TURKEY SCALOPPINE
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
1-2 teaspoons oil
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 to 1 1/2 pounds turkey breast, sliced 1/4-inch thick, cut into strips
1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch each: freshly ground pepper, sage, nutmeg
2 medium onions, sliced thin
1/2- 3/4 cup Sauternes or dry sherry
1 can (14 ounces) Italian-style stewed tomatoes
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste with water or 1 large can tomato sauce or spaghetti sauce and tomato sauce mixed
3/4-1 pound cooked spaghetti or fettuccine
1. Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and cook until fragrant but not browned. Add turkey strips; cook and stir until brown. Mix flour and spices. Add to meat and stir to coat meat with flour. Add onions, wine, tomatoes and tomato sauce.
2. Cover and simmer, 20 to 25 minutes. Mix in cooked pasta and serve.